Render

When the bible suggests that image is everything, it means that the image of God is the filter through which we discern everything and gives ultimate purpose and significance to our lives. We are to design our lives from the image already in us in order to be a revelation of God to the world.

Christ calls us to “do business”, and doing business is summed up in the lifestyle of a Generous steward. Generous stewards are called to faithfully manage all of their time, talent, and treasure as resources for God’s purposes.

If your hand is closed around your money and possessions, if you don’t care about the needs of others enough to give, if you don’t value the kingdom above your personal pursuits, then Heaven can’t be read on your palm because it isn’t what you love. If your hand is open, you have let go of what is “yours” and understand that it is His. An open hand is evidence of an open heart, open to God and His purpose; a heart oriented to the world that is to come.

In the parable of the dishonest manager, the manager realizes that a day is coming when he will have to live with the consequences of his stewardship. With the little time he had left, he began to use his position and access to wealth to secure a better future for himself. The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. In the same way, we are to use our resources and position to secure for ourselves a better future in God’s Kingdom. We are to steward everything we have for God’s glory and for the spiritual health and well-being of others.

Stewardship is a call to trust in God. Yet we often give out of our bare excess because we really don’t trust God to provide for tomorrow’s needs. As we fight to trust in God and His provision, we are to look to Jesus and give generously.

What we do with what God places in our hands, reveals how we are relating to God in our hearts. Stewardship is the essence of what it means to be human, and includes the totality of who we are and what we’ve been given. We reflect God the best, when we steward well what He has placed in our hands.